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Fashion’s BIG Night Out in New York

I was planning to get off early from work on Thursday to stalk Anna Wintour at Macy’s Queens, on the night of the most anticipated Fashion’s Night Out on September 10th (Wintour, Michael Kors, Kate Hudson, Diane Von Furstenberg and Major Bloomberg attended the Fashion’s Night Out kick-off event at Macy’s Queens around 5PM).

But sadly, I got off from work pretty late around 7pm. Instead, I decided to have a taste of this fashion bash around Herald Square, dragging my dear hubby who was “forced” to be my photographer of the night.*Although he left his camera in his car, and his BB was our only saviour !

We went straight to Macy’s in Herald Square, and saw people starting to fold the red carpet in front of its main entrance. I said to myself, “It must be too late to catch any fashion insiders or celebrities sightings at this time!” My hubby cheered me up and suggested that since we’re already here, we should go inside the store to kill time until the time to break our fast arrived. Inside, Macy’s floor was swarmed by “fashionistas” vying to see the luminaries of fashion insiders, or maybe just happened to be there at the right timing. Everything on the first floor was on sale, most of them were discounted to 50% off. Cosmetic counters were filled with makeup addicts getting their hands on everything on the counter. It was a definite shopping heaven for every shopaholics.

On the second floor, throngs of women in stylish attires waiting in line to see Rachel Roy‘s debut collection with Macy’s. Many people flipped their pocket camera or their phones, and busy snapping anything that might interest them. The tall Rachel Roy, towered over everyone including her models, was giving away interviews to the press. Behind her, the models, standing on top of a small and narrow runway, showed Rachel’s latest collaboration with Macy’s. Her collection with Macy’s consisted mostly of “affordable” urban look accentuated with _currently must-have details_zippers and studs.

Rachel Roy debut collection for Macy’s

Meanwhile one floor below, Michael Kors was introducing his new fragrance and having a meet and greet with the public. When Erin Lauder walked pass in front of us, I went blank for a split second. I didn’t expect her to be passing in the crowd and of course we missed taking a quick snapshot of her! I saw a girl in front of me whose shirt was signed by Tommy Hilfiger, I assume he was also present earlier. After spending some more time at Macy’s and bought the “official” T-Shirt, we decided to go outside and take some pictures of the wider Fashion’s Night Out. Along 34th street, many stores had DJs spinning and mixing catchy music on their window diplays. Then, we saw a long line of girls waiting in front of the H&M store on 34th Street. I was curious to peek and it turned out there was Ms. J Alexander, the “runway guru” of America’s Next Top Models, who was giving lessons and tips on how to walk the runway.

From 34th street, we passed in front of Bryant Park. The iconic tent was still standing for its last season of New York Fashion Week S/S 2010 in Bryant Park. Then we went around 57th street, many stores were giving away freebies. The main drag, 5th Avenue was swamped by fashion devotees, shoppers, bystanders and many of them dressed to perfection in their own unique looks. I caught a glimpse of the Prada window store on 5th Avenue. It was transformed into the magical Little Red Riding Hood story, inspired by Grace Coddington‘s September issue of Vogue. I wish I had more energy to stop at Bergdorf and Bendel, where Zac Posen, Donna Karan, Rachel Zoe, Victoria Beckham and the Olsen twins were making appearances. It was fun to watch the evening filled with fashion enthusiasts all over the town_definitely makes me love this city even more, even though we missed the Queens’ fanfare, Meatpacking district and the SoHo area.

If only they would extend this fabulous event for another night. A two-day in a row fashion blast, wouldn’t it be wonderful? They should make this special night as a yearly event, don’t you think? To any FDers who live in the cities where this fashion celebration was also held (Paris, London, Milan, Berlin, Madrid, Tokyo, etc.), please do share your experiences with us here.

View photos of stalking Anna to Queens, here, courtesy of gawker.com. Follow this event on twitter, here and here. See more photos of celebrity sightings during this event, here,courtesy of fabsugar.com